For quite some time now there has been a good deal of speculation as to when, exactly, Amazon might launch its Kindle reader in the world marketplace. The original Kindle debuted in November 2007 with the Kindle 2 and the large screen Kindle DX being released in February and June of 2009 respectively.
Eighteen months and 2 hardware releases later there seems to be no sign of any imminent global launch on the horizon. US sales of the reader are strong – demand frequently outstrips supply and the device is out of stock quite often. Kindle book sales are also strong (accounting for 35% of total sales when there is a Kindle edition on offer alongside the traditional printed versions) and the market for Kindle accessories is growing daily.
However, as good as current sales figures are, it seems unlikely that a company like Amazon would be satisfied with dominating the North American market whilst ignoring the profit available in the global arena. The fact that the Kindle’s only serious rival, (currently at least) the Sony PRS reader, is available worldwide and is capitalising upon the opportunity to build brand loyalty in countries where the Kindle is unavailable must be a matter of some concern for Amazon.
Part of the problem would appear to be the method of connection to the Amazon store. In the US, Amazon offer a fee free 3G download service – dubbed “Whispernet” and provided by Sprint. It’s an attractive option for consumers who perceive themselves to be less committed – albeit the cost of this service is reflected in the initial price of the hardware, the reader itself.
Recent discussions involving Amazon and European telecoms service providers – T-Mobile and Vodafone – broke down with Amazon suggesting that the service provider’s demands were “unreasonable”.
Bearing in mind that Sony have recently joined forces with Google to make the search engine giant’s vast library of public domain electronic books available free of charge to Sony PRS users, and also bearing in mind that Apple will be releasing a tablet based notebook (perfect for reading ebooks) – it does seem reasonable to wonder how much longer Amazon can afford to drag its feet before entering the global marketplace with its Kindle ebook reader.
On the other hand, it’s probably worth remembering that the Kindle was a pretty late edition to the ebook reader marketplace – the devices have been available since 1999 in a variety of formats. It doesn’t appear to have done Amazon any great harm to date and they may feel that the time will be right when they say so and not before.
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